UEFA suspends Legia Warsaw's European ban

BERNE, Switzerland, Aug 24 (Reuters) Polish club Legia Warsaw have been granted a provisional reprieve from the European ban they received following crowd trouble at an Intertoto Cup match in July.

UEFA's appeals body yesterday upheld a disciplinary panel decision throwing the team out of this year's competition but decided to suspend an additional one year ban.

Legia had originally been told that they would be banned from one season of European competition should they qualify again within the next five years.

As a result of yesterday's decision that ban will only come into effect if the club's supporters fall foul of UEFA again within that five year period.

Legia's fans ran riot after falling 2-0 behind halfway through their second round, first leg match away to Lithuanian side FK Vetra.

UEFA match officials were eventually forced to abandon the match as missiles were thrown onto the pitch and supporters engaged in ''ugly and shocking'' scenes with police.

In addition to their Intertoto Cup expulsion and the suspended ban, the club have been ordered to compensate Vetra for damage to the stadium.

Vetra progressed by default to the third round of the Intertoto Cup - a pre-qualifying tournament for the UEFA Cup - before suffering a 6-0 aggregate defeat at the hands of English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.

REUTERS BJR PM1039